Chapter 244 German journalists, Italian wounded and British prisoners
The desert, which is enough to freeze people to death at night, quickly heats up and returns to above freezing after the sun rises. But after all, it is winter, and even at noon, the temperature is only 14 to 15 degrees.
But at least during the day, this was not a bad thing. At least the temperature was very suitable for traveling, and the burns on Pierre's legs were not easily inflamed.
But for Wei Ran and others, the real trouble was that the last mouthful of fresh water had been given to Pierre who was still suffering from a high fever in the morning, but until noon, they had not found the so-called 101st Armored Division.
Not even any traces left by humans have been encountered.
Looking at the fuel gauge of the three-wheeled motorcycle, Wei Ran gently stepped on the brakes and turned off the engine, "Carlo, Panetong, are you sure you can meet the 101st Division if you keep going south? We have been running all morning.
Oh, why can’t I see even a single rut mark?”
"Perhaps the strong wind last night has blown away the wind?" Panetong replied optimistically.
"Use your brain when you speak," Carlo said while twirling the happy curls of his beard above his lips. "An armored division with several thousand people, even if the wind was strong last night, shouldn't be able to do anything."
Nothing left."
"Is it possible that we ran in the wrong direction?" Wei Ran once again asked a question he had asked countless times along the way.
"Perhaps the 101st Division was too slow. We had already crossed it before we reached the position." Like a repeater, Panetong said what he said after Wei Ran said the same sentence several times before.
Lines that are sure to be spoken.
"It's a pity that we don't have a map in our hands." Carlo sighed, "Let's rest for a while."
"If I had known we would get lost, we should have surrendered last night." Panetong said with regret in his tone.
"It's too late to say this now." Carlo seemed to regret it as well. He walked towards the sand dunes not far away with a submachine gun and said, "I'll go check out the sand dunes in front. Maybe there is an oasis nearby."
"Do you want something to eat?" Panetong asked, pulling out a tin can from the cargo bin.
"Forget it, until we can find fresh water, there is no difference between eating those cans and poison."
Wei Ran was the first to refuse the suggestion of eating those cans again. He carefully inspected the wound on Pierre's leg and saw that there was no sign of inflammation. Then he picked up an oil drum and filled up the three-wheeled motorcycle with fuel.
.
"Victor, what do you think about us walking back now?" Panetong asked in a low voice, "You must still remember the way, right?"
"You overestimate me"
Wei Ran screwed on the fuel tank cap. He was chased by a British armored reconnaissance vehicle for most of the night yesterday. If he could still run back the same way, he would probably have two humps growing on his back.
After hearing this, Panetong looked at Pierre, who was still suffering from high fever on the cargo bed, and suddenly thought, "What if we use that fuel to light a fire, then remove the tires of the motorcycle and throw them in to make a fire?"
With some black smoke, maybe someone will come to save us."
"I think we should throw you in," Carlo came back with a submachine gun and cursed with a smile. "Without this motorcycle, we are really doomed."
"How is the situation?" Wei Ran asked, leaning on the motorcycle.
Carlo shook his head, "Not very good."
"Or let's go back," Panetong suggested again with a chicken paw gesture. "Even if we can't get back to Gubi Well, as long as we keep going north, we can at least reach the Mediterranean coast. As long as we can reach the seaside,
, at most he would just be captured by the British."
"It's also possible that the British might have caught him on the way," Wei Ran reminded, dumbfounded.
"Isn't that better?" Panetong asked naturally.
What surprised Wei Ran was that Carlo even more naturally agreed to this suggestion that he thought was extremely nonsense, "In this case, let's go back now. Just like Panetong said, if we encounter the British
People, we just surrender."
"Really going back?" Wei Ran asked in astonishment, thinking that he ran away last night in vain? Why do these Italians like to surrender more than the French?
"I'm afraid Pierre won't last long."
Carlo said as he got on the motorcycle, "If it hadn't been too dark yesterday and I was worried about being beaten to death by the British, I would have been ready to surrender at that time."
"I..."
Wei Ran suppressed the urge to slap the opponent, took the submachine gun handed by the opponent, stepped on the wheels and rolled into the cargo compartment. Since the two of them had already planned to surrender, he himself had no objection.
After Wei Ran and Panetong were seated, the motorcycle that had been running for most of the day started up again under the control of Carlo, pulling everyone with their backs to the sun above their heads, and drove around the sand dunes in the direction of due north.
On the way back, Carlo obviously did not follow the ruts left by the weiran, but went straight north, making it clear that he wanted to go back as quickly as possible.
The hungry and thirsty people rode this hard-working three-wheeled motorcycle from noon to sunset, but Carlo suddenly stepped on the brakes, and at the same time, Wei Ran also lifted the motorcycle originally carried on his shoulder.
Submachine gun, kicking Panetong awake next to him.
What made the two of them so vigilant was that there was an Italian-made CL39 light truck with a square head parked behind a sand dune in front of the truck.
Just as Wei Ran was pointing a gun at each other, in the shadow on the side of the front of the truck, which had a square head and a square head and was shaped like a van, there was a man in a German uniform pointing a gun at them.
"Seems like one of ours"
Carlo signaled the guard to put away his submachine gun, raised his hands and shouted, "We are from the Aries Armored Division, what about you?"
The man in the shadow of the front of the "101st Armored Division" walked out with a P38 pistol in his hand, raised his hand and pointed at the truck behind him, and said in blunt Italian, "At least this car and its driver are from the 101st Armored Division."
of."
"Aren't you?" Carlo put down his hands and walked forward and asked.
"I am Pell, the war correspondent for the German newspaper Vanguard. This is my ID."
While the other party was talking, he took out an ID card from his coat pocket and handed it to Carlo. Then he looked at Wei Ran and Panetong who were walking over and asked strangely, "Why are you here? Isn't the 132nd Armored Division assigned?"
Have you been to Gubi Well?"
"We were intercepted by the British when we were conducting reconnaissance on the front line. We lost our way in order to escape their pursuit." Carlo returned the ID to the reporter named Pell, and then handed his own ID to the other party, "What are you doing?
Also here? Wasn’t the 101st Division also sent to Gubi Well?”
Hearing this, reporter Pell's face showed an undisguised look of ridicule, "The 101st Division is going in the wrong direction, and if nothing else, the entire division is going in the wrong direction."
"The entire division?" Carlo's eyes widened, "So the 101st Division is nearby?"
Pell shook his head and exchanged Carlo's ID, "We also got separated from the large group, and in the early morning, we encountered several British reconnaissance vehicles about ten kilometers away to the west, and had a fight with them.
Firefight."
Pell didn't notice the strange expressions on the faces of Wei Ran and others. He turned around and took them to the cargo box of the truck. He pointed at an Italian soldier lying inside and continued, "With the help of the armored vehicles protecting us, we eliminated
One of the reconnaissance vehicles also captured a British soldier. But the truck driver was also injured and separated from the armored vehicle protecting us, and now the fuel and water tanks are empty."
"What's your name? How's your condition?" Carlo climbed onto the bed of the truck and asked the wounded man lying inside.
"Trento, I'm Trento from the 80th Transportation Company."
The pale wounded man opened the blanket covering his legs while speaking. Then everyone saw that his left leg was randomly wrapped in gauze. The dark red blood had soaked the gauze, and even the blanket was covered with gauze.
All stained with blood.
"The bullet seems to be still stuck in his leg," Pell, who was standing at the back of the car, reminded with a headache. "We need to find a doctor who can operate as soon as possible to help him remove the bullet."
Hearing this, Carlo and Panetong both looked at Weiran, who was currently looking at the inventory in the truck.
In addition to the wounded man named Trento, there was a Breda 35 20mm anti-aircraft gun, several boxes for ammunition and cans, and two medical boxes with crosses printed on them.
Under Rento, there was obviously a whole layer of wooden boxes, but they were all covered with thick canvas, so he had no idea what they contained.
"Victor, can you perform surgery?" Panetong couldn't help but ask.
Hearing this, Wei Ran came to his senses, grabbed the edge of the cargo bed and climbed into the car, "Let me see what's in the medical kit first."
"Is he a doctor?" German reporter Per asked Carlo who jumped out of the truck.
"He is also a soldier of the transport company." Carlo pointed to the tricycle not far away, "But it was him who cured our companion. He had a broken arm and was cured without any surgery."
Reporter Pell looked suspiciously at Wei Ran, who was rummaging through the medical kit. When he was about to say something, Panetong asked, "Pell, you just said that you also captured an Englishman? He is there?"
where?"
"Under the car" Pell bent down and pointed to the chassis of the truck.
Carlo and Panetong looked in the direction he pointed, and then discovered a shirtless and gagged prisoner under the truck, with his hands separated and tied to the chassis.
"How did you two do it?" Panetong straightened up and asked in surprise.
"That anti-aircraft gun"
Pell pointed to the weapons in the cargo compartment with some pride, "We turned off the engine and hid behind a sand dune. When the British were attracted by the armored vehicles protecting us, I used the anti-aircraft gun to blow them up.
A reconnaissance vehicle, but when the prisoner was pulled out, Trento was shot in the thigh with a pistol."
"Where is the armored vehicle that protects you?" Panetong asked after him.
"He attracted the remaining British reconnaissance vehicles to run in other directions." Pell spread his hands, "If they are not in danger, maybe they can come back to us."
"Does he know the road?" Carlo asked, pointing to the prisoner under the truck chassis.
"Perhaps," reporter Pell spread his hands, "but I don't know English, and the one under the chassis doesn't seem to know German or Italian."
"Alas!" Carlo and Panetong sighed in unison, and the little hope they had just ignited suddenly turned into bubbles.
